Eastern split its four dual matches over the weekend, losing to No. 23 Northern Illinois 30-9 and Division II No. 20 Truman State 25-16 and beating Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Newman (Kan.).

The Panthers were in Dekalb Friday night, wrestling the Huskies and got started off on the right foot when Eastern senior heavyweight Pete Ziminski (13-6) beat Northern’s Joe Sapp (13-11).

Up 3-0, the Panthers then lost the next six matches by starting with a forfeit at 125 pounds.

“Our Achilles heel is not having that 125 spot,” Eastern head coach Ralph McCausland said. “If you’re spotting them 6 (points for a forfeit), you’re putting yourself behind right away.”

Sophomore Casey Carrino (6-10) lost 8-2 at 133 pounds to No. 12 Sam Hiatt (20-6). The Huskies then built their lead to 23 points with two decisions, a major decision and a pin.

“Bob Fangerow (who lost 6-3 at 141 pounds) isn’t firing on all cylinders right now,” McCausland said. “Those (middle weights) are the matches, in any dual meet, that you need.”

The Panthers won the next two matches, with a 12-7 decision at 174 pounds by Kenny Robertson (28-9) and an 8-5 decision at 184 pounds by freshman Greg Perz (12-10).

The final match of the night went to the Huskies when Brandon Check (1-7) outscored Jason Sherko (8-14) 7-2 in the final period to win 15-7.

“Sherko expanded himself too much, and sometimes you end up giving more than you should and you get yourself into trouble,” McCausland said. “You have to find the fine line between overextending yourself and not going hard enough.”

The next day in Kirksville, Mo., Eastern rolled through its first two matches beating Newman 40-9 and SIUE 33-14.

The Panthers dominated Newman with only two losses in the dual, a forfeit at 125 pounds and a 9-4 loss at 157 pounds by sophomore Andy Mangiaguerra. Eastern had three pins in the meet, one by Robertson, Perz and Ziminski.

Against SIUE, Robertson and Perz each got their third win of the weekend. Perz, who leads the team in falls with 12, pinned his second opponent of the day and Robertson won by tech fall 15-0.

Eastern lost to Truman State in the final match of the weekend. The Bulldogs won five of the nine weight classes wrestled and a forfeit at 125 pounds.

Carrino won the match 11-1 victory following Eastern’s forfeit. But momentum shifted to Truman State after consecutive Bulldog victories at 141 and 149 pounds, McCausland said.

Bob Fangerow lost to Division II No. 1 Merrick Meyer 8-2 at 141 pounds. Saturday Meyer became the Bulldog career win leader with 123.

Eastern lost the next two matches before picking up the last two weight classes.

“We made them better than they were,” McCausland said. “We didn’t close things out and then things snowballed.”

The Panthers won’t wrestle for the next nine days until they host Eastern Michigan at Lantz Arena.